No Dough, No Show

The old NFL contract system was flawed. There've been stories of players being accused of faking injuries to get out of "below market" contracts. Then there were players playing hard for a long-term contract with big guaranteed money followed by a mysterious dip in production after getting paid. This type of story has plagued this sport too long.

The problem was that the guaranteed money (most of the money in NFL contracts is not guaranteed) was prorated against the salary cap over the life of the contract, even if all that money was paid to the player upfront. So if a player signed a contract for five years, got paid $15 million dollars guaranteed, and received every cent of that guaranteed money upfront, it counted as $3 million dollars a year for five years against the salary cap for the team. To make it worse, it counted against the salary cap even if the player was released before the contract expired. 


An example of what can happen when a player is shrouded in doubt because of a underpaying contract is Shawn Andrews. After being a first round pick in 2004, Andrews signed a contract extension in 2005 that would make him an Eagle through 2015. The guaranteed money were two $5 million dollar bonuses to be paid in 2005 and 2006. Shawn pocketed $10 million in two years. Not bad. 

He was probably the best guard in the NFL in 2006 and 2007, making the Pro Bowl both years.  His contemporaries like Derrick Dockery were cashing in on free agency:  before the 2007 season, he signed a seven year, $49 million dollar contract, including $23 million guaranteed in the first three seasons.  However, Andrews was to make a comparitively small base salary of $750,000 until 2010. 


Then he didn't show up for 2008 training camp. He claimed he was suffering from depression. When he did show up, he began giving long interviews in front of his locker. He then injured his back the second game of the season and was place on Injured Reserve. He re-injured his back in the 2009 training camp and missed the rest of the season, only to be cut prior to this season.


The perception is Shawn Andrews wasn't as hurt as advertised but the injury was a result of not liking his contract and probably never being able to cash in through free agency. The reality is the contract didn't work. It left the Eagles and Andrews with a bad taste in their respective mouths, and reputations ruined, fair or not.


With the recent lifting of the salary cap, and its restrictions, perhaps the NFL can change this system. Football isn't a career, and the earning window is much smaller than a normal job.  Getting rid of the prorated system and moving to two or three year guaranteed contracts will help minimize players who are under-compensated or overcompensated from under performing because of having a long term contract.

 


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